A perfect start to the final season for one Bearcat began this weekend at the Binghamton Cross Country Invitational, as Binghamton University graduate student Chris Gaube claimed the men’s individual title on Saturday, propelling the Bearcats to a second-place finish.
“It was a thrill,” Gaube said of the win. “It had been a long time since I got to compete at home. To get the victory in front of friends and family was a thrill.”
Gaube is a graduate of Vestal High School and had more support because of his local roots.
“I’m a local guy,” Gaube said. “So I had some aunts and uncles as well. It was a lot of fun.”
Gaube won his second individual title of his career. The other win came last season at the Baltimore Metro Invitational.
“He had a great race,” said head coach Annette Acuff on Gaube. “He is very fit right now and it was nice to see him finish first overall.”
Gaube finished the 8,000-meter hilly course in 25:48. It was the fourth-fastest time on the Binghamton course since the program moved up to Division I in 2001. He finished five seconds ahead of Columbia’s Kyle Merber who was the head of a pack of Columbia runners. Freshman Jeff Martinez finished sixth for the Bearcats right behind the Columbia pack.
“[Martinez] was hanging with the Columbia group,” Acuff said. “He was able to pick a few guys off and finish very strong.”
Senior Craig Coon finished 15th for the Bearcats while junior Adam Quinn finished 16th and classmate Andrew Ugolino was 21st.
“We are really excited about what happened,” Acuff said. “We didn’t race Erik van Ingen because of his late outdoor season, and he is one of our top runners.”
Van Ingen, a junior for Binghamton, had an extended outdoor track season that lasted through the end of June as he raced the 1,500-meter run at the USA Track & Field Outdoor Nationals after meeting a qualifying time at the NCAA East Regional championships. He placed 45th at the meet, which was held in Eugene, Ore.
“We are waiting to open Erik in Lehigh in a couple of weeks,” Acuff said. “Our men’s team looks a lot stronger than we look on paper and if we keep everyone healthy we have a good shot at doing well.”
The Bearcats finished second place, behind Columbia and ahead of Le Moyne and St. Bonaventure.
“Columbia’s one of the best team’s in the region and to see our guys keep up with them was great,” Gaube said. “Hopefully this is a forecast of things to come.”
The USTFCCA Northeast Region preseason poll was released this week but does not include results from this weekend. The Bearcats were ranked 14th out of the 15 teams ranked. The Bearcats were just behind AE rivals New Hampshire and Stony Brook, who were ranked 11th and 13th, respectively.
The BU women’s team also opened their season with a second place finish. Freshman Rachel Miura was Binghamton’s top finisher, placing 14th overall with a time of 19:43.
Columbia’s Jill Goodwin won the individual title for the 5,000-meter women’s race with a time of 19:07. She led 12 other Columbia runners as the Lions swept the first 13 places and claimed first out of four teams.
“Our women’s team had a pretty good show,” Acuff said. “Times were slower for all runners, but we had nice group of girls running together.”
BU junior Kim Law was 17th while classmate Paulina Nunez was 20th. Rounding out the scoring for Binghamton were junior Alicia Finger and senior Terry Powell who placed 21st and 22nd, respectively.
“We need to develop our fitness and improve our position,” Acuff said. “But we had some freshmen girls who ran really well.”
The men’s and women’s teams hadn’t hosted a home meet in two years before this weekend. The Bearcats were able to enjoy crowd support and a familiar course.
“It’s nice to be home in September,” Acuff said. “Not to have to travel helps the teams avoid the stress and issues that come with it.”
Binghamton will not travel in the month of September; their home meet was the only race scheduled for the month.
“Not having to travel is a huge positive,” Gaube said. “We can focus on training and everyone can get situated with academics.”
Acuff said the meet also gives the Bearcats good preparation for their conference meet later this fall.
“The course is pretty hilly, just like Vermont’s,” Acuff said. “Our course helps us prepare for the America East meet later this season.”
The America East championships will be held at Vermont on Oct. 31.
The Bearcats will have a couple of weeks to rest before traveling to Lehigh University for the prestigious Lehigh Paul Short Run on Oct. 2. The meet features around 40 quality teams.
“Our main reasons for going to Lehigh are to compete with some really good teams in the region and it mimics the atmosphere of the NCAA regional,” Acuff said. “It’s a good experience in a high profile and pressure meet early in the season.”